Safety cap



' J. E. HALE June 14, 1955 SAFETY CAP Filed Feb. 12, 1952 James E. Hale Lvl/Emol: `BY waa..

MWHLMI United States Patent O ySAFETY CAP .lames E. Hale, Morristown, Tenn.

Application February 12, 1952, Serial No. 271,112

3 Claims. (Cl. 21S-9) This invention relates in general to safety caps, and more particularly to safety caps for containers containing dangerous materials, such as inflammables, poisons, etc.

The average household usually retains on hand numerous containers which contain dangerous materials such as turpentine, kerosene, cleaning fluids, poisons, etc., which when taken internally or ignited will oftentimes result in serious injury or even prove to be fatal. It is, therefore, desirable to provide such containers with a safety cap which may be easily removed by a person of average intelligence, but will hinder the removal of same by intoxicated persons, children and other irresponsible persons who should not have access to the material stored within the container.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved safety cap for containers which may be easily opened by a qualified person and at the same time presents a bar to irresponsible people.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved safety cap which includes a first cap threadedly engaged with the threads at the upper end of a container and a second cap portion normally telescoped over the rst cap portion and independently rotatable with respect to said rst cap portion, whereby said first cap portion is non-removable from its associated container, said first and second cap portions having means selectively interlockable whereby the first cap portion may be removed by turning said second cap portion.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved safety cap which is so constructed that it may be threadedly engaged with the threaded upper ends of containers in lieu of the conventional closure caps therefor.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved two-piece safety cap, said two pieces being telescoped one within the other and locked together by a locking ring carried by one of said pieces and engaging behind the shoulder of the other of said pieces.

A further object of this invention is to provide a safety cap which includes a first part having lugs thereon, and a second part having corresponding grooves therein whereby said cap portions may be locked together for rotation, said cap portions being retained in telescope relation by a locking ring carried by one of said caps and engaging with means on the other said cap portions, said other cap portion having a tapered upper end whereby the locking ring may easily be expanded thereover.

-With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, cornbination and arrangement of elements and portions as Will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this specication, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the upper portion of a conventional bottle which has pivotally engaged firice thereon the safety cap which is the subject of this in vention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational View of the upper portion of a conventional bottle having the safety cap of Figure 1 threadedly engaged thereon, said safety cap being formed in two portions, the upper portion being shown interlocked with the lower portion in position for simultaneous rotation therewith;

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the innermost of said cap portions and showing the construction of locking grooves thereon;

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the innermost locking cap portion and showing the general outline thereof;

Figure 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the outermost of the cap portions, grooves engageable with the lugs of the inner cap portion being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 6 6 of Figure 5 and showing the general construction of the interior of the outer cap portion, the outer cap portion being provided with a locking ring; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged top plan view of the locking ring and showing the split construction thereof.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the different views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in Figures l and 2 a conventional bottle 10 having a neck portion 12 which is provided with threads 14 adjacent the upper end thereof, said neck portion 12 having threadedly engaged thereon the safety cap which is the subject of this invention, the safety cap being referred to in general by the reference numeral 16. As is best illustrated in Figure 2, the safety cap 16 includes an inner cap portion 1S and an outer cap portion 20.' The inner cap portion 18 being provided with a centrally located inverted cup-shaped opening 22 which is internally threaded as at 24 adjacent the upper inner end thereof.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, it will be seenthat the inner cap portion 18 includes a generally inverted cup-shaped body portion 26 which is circular in crosssection and has an annular flange 28 projecting outwardly from the lower edge thereof. Carried by the upper portion of the body portion 26 is a plurality of lugs which extend radially from the body portion 26. It will be noted that the lugs are of various sizes and include a very wide lug 30. The other lugs are substantially of the same width and are referred to by the reference numeral 32. `It will also be noted that the lugs 30 and 32 are of the same transverse cross-section and increase in thickness from their top edges to their bottom edges.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6 in particular, it will be seen that the outer cap portion 20 is generally cup-shaped and has an internal bore 34. The bore 34 is formed by a tubular body portion 36 which is provided with a lower portion which is enlarged at 38. The outer cap portion 20 has a top wall 40 which is provided with a centrally located opening 42, the utility of the opening 42 will be explained in more detail hereinafter.

As is best illustrated by dotted lines in Figure 5, the body portion 36 is provided with an internal thick ring portion 44 the ring portion 44 being provided with a plurality of radially extending grooves. The grooves include a wide groove 46 and a plurality of similar narrow grooves 4S, the wide groove 46 and the narrow grooves 4S corresponding to the wide lug 30 and the narrow lugs 32. Below the ring portion 44 the body portion 36 is provided with an annular groove 50 in which is retained a split ring 52.

Referring now to Figure 7 particularly, it will be seen that the split ring 52 is in the form of an annular ring normally having its ends 54 spaced apart whereby said ring may be compressed and be resiliently seated within the groove 50.

When it is desired to assemble the inner and outer cap portions 18 and 20, respectively, the split ring 52 is disposed within the annular groove G, as illustrated in Figure 6. The outer cap portion 2G is then positioned over the inner cap portion 14 and pressed downwardly. The downward movement of the outer cap portion and its associated split ring 52 results in the split ring being spread by the tapered lugs 3) and 32 until it slides past the lugs and engages behind the shoulders formed by the lower ends thereof. The split ring 52 then springs back to its normal shape.

Referring now to Figure 2 in particular, it will be seen that when the split ring 52 has passed behind the shoulders at the lower ends of the lugs 3f? and 32, that the inner cap portion is retained within the outer cap portion 20. Also, the downward movement of the outer cap portion 29 with respect to the inner cap portion 18 is limited by the engagement of the split ring 52 with the annular fiange 2S at the lower edge of the inner cap member 13.

W'hen the inner and outer cap portions are telescoped, as illustrated in Figure l, the lugs 36 and 32 are out of engagement with the grooves 46 and 48, respectively, and the outer cap portion 20 is free to rotate independently of the inner cap portion 18. Due to this novel construction, when it is attempted to remove the safety cap 16 by rotating the outer cap portion 20 with respect to the bottle 10, the outer cap portion 20 merely rotates freely and the inner cap portion 18 remains locked upon the neck 12 of the bottle 10. It is, therefore, necessary for the person desiring to remove the safety cap 16 from the bottle 10 to have sufficient intelligence or presenceof-mind to interengage the lugs 3f) and 32 with the grooves 46 and 48, respectively, of the ring portion 44. When the two cap portions are interengaged, the inner cap portion 18 may be easily removed from the bottle 10 by rotating the cap portion 20 in the conventional manner. As is best illustrated in Figures 3 and 5, the top wall 54 of the inner cap member 18 is provided with an indicating mark 56 in the form of an arrow which when aligned with the indicating mark 58 on the top wall 40 of the outer cap portion 20 positions the two cap portions so that the respective lugs and grooves may be interengaged.

While the container has been illustrated and described as being a bottle, it is not intended to so limit the invention as other containers including jars, cans, etc, may utilize the safety cap 16 equally as well. Also, while the lugs and grooves have been illustrated and described as having only one wide groove and lug, it will be readily apparent that any combination of wide and narrow lugs and grooves may be formed as long as the lugs of the inner cap portion matches the grooves of the outer cap portion so as to allow intermeshing of the same. Furthermore, while the aligning marks have been described as being arrows, it will be understood that other indicating marks such as numerals, letters, etc, may be utilized.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoing description of the details thereof, taken in connection with the above recited objects and drawings. Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from the embodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as dened in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A safety cap for a container comprising first and second cap portions, said second cap portion being telescoped over said first cap portion and normally rotatable independently thereof, said first cap portion having means for sealing engagement with a container, said first cap portion including an upper part of a greater diameter than a low part, said upper part being in thc form of radially projecting lugs in spaced relation, said second cap portion having a lower part of a lesser diameter than an upper part, said lower part being in the form of spaced, inwardly projecting radial lugs complementary to said first mentioned lugs, the lugs of the cap portions extending vertically and normally being out of engagement, said second cap portion being vertically movable to interengage said lugs to permit rotation of said first cap portion upon rotation of said second cap portion.

2. A safety cap for a container comprising first and second cap portions, said second cap portion being telescoped over said rst cap portion and normally rotatable independently thereof, said first cap portion having means for sealing engagement with a container, said first cap portion including an upper part of a greater diameter than a lower part, said upper part being in the form of radially projecting lugs in spaced relation, said second cap portion having a lower part of a lesser diameter than an upper part, said lower part being in the form of spaced, inwardly projecting radial lugs complementary to said rst mentioned lugs, the lugs of the cap portions extending vertically and normally being out of engagement, said second cap portion being vertically movable to interengage said lugs to permit rotation of said first cap portion upon rotation of said second cap portion, said first mentioned lugs being generally wedge shaped in elevation to facilitate engagement thereof with said second mentioned lugs.

3. A safety cap for a container comprising first and second cap portions, said second cap portion being telescoped over said first cap portion and normally rotatable independently thereof, said first cap portion having means for sealing engagement with a container, said first cap portion including an upper part 0f a greater diameter than a lower part, said upper part being in the form of radially projecting lugs in spaced relation, said second cap portion having a lower part of a lesser diameter than an Lipper part, said lower part being in the form of spaced, inwardly projecting radial lugs complementary to said first mentioned lugs, the lugs of the cap portions extending vertically and normally being out of engagement, said second cap portion being vertically movable to interengage said lugs to permit rotation of said first cap portion upon rotation of said second cap portion, said first cap portion having an outwardly projecting tiange at its lower end, said second cap portion having an annular groove in its inner surface adjacent its lower end, :1 split locking ring positioned in said groove and slidable on said lower part of the first cap portion between said upper part of the first cap portion and said annular flange to lock said cap portions together for limited vertical movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l,77l,0l2 Schwartz July 22, 1930 2,061,214 Sentman NOV. 17, 1936 2,487,728 Quiring Nov. 8, l949 

